Always remember. Plus my son was born June 6, 1984. For his birthday I sent himself this reflection on my speech at Prétot-Sainte-Suzanne on 6 June 2019: I wrote it in English because I made grammatical errors during the talk and my son speaks native French and is a dual citizen:

I would like to share a thought i contributed out in Normandy in 2019 on the 75th anniversary of D-Day - your birthday - discussing your biological Grandfather.

I told the Prétot audience that: 3rd Bn 508th PIR began the assault on the village from the east at 0500 hours and rapidly overrun 90% of it. Then about 10:00 AM on 20 August 1944 the counterattack began. 3 tanks descended the slopes behind the town over there and one penetrated behind those buildings (which have been rebuilt) while shooting up I company. It was ultimately stopped but traversing the turret it saw my father in the road at the summit of the ridge organizing the machine guns and fired a shell which passed close to him killing him by the pressure of the air, not a mark on his body. He fell in mid-road.

Shortly afterwards artillery began to fall like a beating rain from the batteries around Monte Castre - 5 km in this direction and the battalion withdrew 1000 meters to the summit of the ridge. The village remained in no-man's land for the next 2 weeks while the archarnique, grinding battle of the hedgerows raged to left and right.

At the time there was a member of 3rd Bn 508th from Louisiana, a Cajun who spoke French. When the Battalion was in bivouac near Pont l'Abby 17-18 June a young French orphan attached himself to the battalion; the Cajun became his protector. He was given a tunic, rifle, helmet, etc. but no boots or trousers. He accompanied the battalion in the assault on Prétot. My father was a small man and the Cajun took the trousers and boots from his body and gave them to the French lad. Both were allegedly killed 10 days later.

I was so angry for 60 years after I discovered the story - the defilement of a corpse.. . .but on the soil of France and in front of the people of Prétot the angst of this event has been ameliorated - because I realized perhaps the young French fighter was my son in a previous incarnation.

Vive la France, Vive la république, Vive l'Amérique. Merci beaucoup.


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Last edited by Argo44; 06/08/26 08:33 PM.
Baluch are not Brahui, Brahui are Baluch